Create Literary English/German to Chinese Dictionary with GPT-4o-mini & Supabase

Description

This workflow creates a sophisticated bilingual dictionary that provides literary-style definitions and examples for English and German words. The system automatically detects the input language, generates comprehensive definitions in Chinese, creates three literary-style example sentences with translations, and stores everything in a Supabase database for future reference.

Who Is This For?

• Language Learners & Students: Perfect for those studying English or German who want to understand words in literary contexts with Chinese translations.
• Writers & Content Creators: Ideal for bilingual writers working with English, German, and Chinese who need rich, literary examples for their work.
• Educators & Translators: Excellent tool for language teachers and professional translators who need comprehensive word definitions with contextual examples.
• Literary Enthusiasts: Great for readers of literature who encounter unfamiliar words and want to understand their poetic or literary usage.

What Problem Does This Workflow Solve?

Traditional dictionaries often provide basic definitions without literary context or cross-language examples. This workflow addresses several key challenges:

• Limited Literary Context: Most dictionaries lack poetic, expressive, or literary-style examples that help understand how words are used in sophisticated writing.
• Cross-Language Learning: Provides seamless translation between English/German and Chinese with culturally appropriate examples.
• Data Persistence: Automatically saves all lookups to a database, creating a personalized vocabulary collection over time.
• API Accessibility: Provides a clean webhook interface that can be integrated into apps, websites, or other tools.

How It Works

Main Dictionary Lookup Flow

1. Input Processing: Receives a word via webhook POST request and automatically detects if it's English or German
2. AI Analysis: Uses OpenAI GPT-4o-mini to generate comprehensive definitions with literary context
3. Response Formatting: Processes the AI response to extract structured data (word, meaning, examples)
4. Quality Control: Validates the response and handles unclear or invalid inputs gracefully
5. Database Storage: Saves the word, Chinese meaning, and examples to Supabase for future reference
6. API Response: Returns formatted JSON with the complete dictionary entry

Data Storage Flow

1. Parallel Processing: Simultaneously returns the dictionary data to the user and saves it to the database
2. Structured Storage: Organizes data in Supabase with fields for words, Chinese meanings, and example arrays
3. Success Confirmation: Provides confirmation when data is successfully stored

Setup Instructions

Prerequisites & Accounts

You'll need accounts and API access for:

• n8n (Cloud or self-hosted)
• OpenAI (API key required)
• Supabase (Database and API credentials)

Webhook Configuration

• The workflow uses two webhook endpoints with the same path for different operations
• Note the webhook URL provided by n8n for API integration
• Test the webhook endpoints to ensure they're accessible
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Customization Options

• Extend to support additional input languages by modifying the AI prompt
• Add support for other target languages beyond Chinese
• Customize the literary style for different cultural contexts

This workflow transforms simple word lookups into rich, contextual learning experiences while building a personalized vocabulary database over time.